SEOUL, South Korean player Kwon Soon-woo was sent packing from the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Kwon, ranked No. 697, lost to Lukas Klein of Slovakia in four sets, 7-6 (7-0), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, in the opening round of the season’s first Grand Slam tournament at Melbourne Park.

This was Kwon’s first match since the Davis Cup in September last year, as he was sidelined with a shoulder injury. He took a major tumble down the world rankings during his absence, and Tuesday’s defeat threw his playing status on the ATP Tour into further doubt.

Kwon, 26, has yet to play beyond the third round at any of the four major tournaments in men’s tennis.

Kwon and Klein went to a tiebreak in the opening set, and Klein took care of business by winning seven unanswered points. Kwon battled back to take the second set and even up the match.

In the third set, Kwon went down 3-0 before rallying to take a 6-5 lead. He blew a 30-15 lead in the 12th game and ended up in a tiebreak, where Klein pr
evailed 7-3.

In the fourth set, Kwon was serving down 4-3 but then committed three double faults to let Klein break him. The Slovakian finished off Kwon in three hours and 10 minutes.

Klein had 16 aces to Kwon’s six and recorded 59 winners, compared with only 30 by Kwon.

Source: Yonhap News Agency